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Disclaimer:'MS Views and News' DOES NOT endorse any products or services found on this blog. It is up to you to seek advice from your healthcare provider. The intent of this blog is to provide information on various medical conditions, medications, treatments, for your personal knowledge and to keep you informed of current health-related issues. It is not a substitute for the advice of your physician. Should you or your family members have any specific medical problem, seek medical care promptly.

Saturday, March 3, 2018

In one of the most comprehensive studies to date, University of British Columbia researchers found an increased risk of events such as stroke, migraine, and depression, as well as abnormalities in the blood with taking beta interferon for multiple sclerosis. Researchers hope their study will lead to further research to develop biomarkers to help identify patients who are at the greatest risk of having an adverse event.

The study’s authors aimed to identify potential adverse events related to beta-interferon treatment for relapsing-remitting MS by analyzing health records of more than 2,000 British Columbians with MS between 1995 and 2008.

The researchers found a 1.8-fold increased risk of stroke, a 1.6-fold increased risk of migraine, and a 1.3-fold increased risk of both depression and abnormalities in the blood. The researchers stress that patients and physicians should not change their treatment plans. The study is based on population-level data and the risk to individual patients will vary greatly depending on individual factors.Read more

Glatopa 40 mg/mL, along with Glatopa 20 mg/mL, will offer patients a complete range of dosing options. Glatopa 20 mg/mL was made available in the U.S. in June 2015. Patients can expect the same patient services for Glatopa 40 mg/mL as for Glatopa 20 mg/mL.

Sandoz GlatopaCare will offer a $0 co-pay support program to qualified patients. To help increase patient confidence with administering injections, patients will receive personalized injection training, 24-hour access to nurses for Glatopa-related questions and a free starter kit, which includes the Glatopaject injection device, designed to work with both Glatopa 20 mg/mL and 40 mg/mL prefilled syringes.

It can happen all of a sudden. Your vision gets dim or blurry. You can’t see colors. Your eyeshurt when you move them. It’s a common problem for people living with multiple sclerosis(MS). The symptoms can seem scary, but most people recover fully, often without treatment.

What Is Optic Neuritis?

We don’t know why, but sometimes your immune systemattacks the fatty coating called myelin that covers and protects your optic nerve. When the myelin is damaged or missing, your optic nerve can't send the right signals to your brain. This can lead to changes in your vision.

Optic neuritis is one of the most common symptoms of the relapsing-remitting form of MS. But it can also happen when you take certain medications or if you have diabetes. It’s also linked to neuromyelitis optica(NMO), or Devic's disease. This autoimmune disorder causes immune system cells and antibodies to attack your optic nerves, spinal cord, and, sometimes, your brain.

Symptoms of Optic Neuritis

This condition usually comes on quickly, over a few hours or days. You may notice some of these symptoms:

Adults usually get optic neuritis in only one eye, but children may have it in both.

Some people get better in a few weeks, even without treatment. For others, it can take up to a year. And a few people never fully regain their sight. Even when other symptoms clear up, they may still have trouble with night vision or seeing colors.

For decades, #DaveBexfield, who's had multiple sclerosis (MS) since 2005, was the designated "bug killer" in his house. When his wife, Laura, spotted a spider or cricket, Dave came to the rescue.

But one day, when Dave was cleaning up a dead spider, he fell -- and landed in the emergency room. The couple quickly realized that Laura, Dave's primary caregiver, needed to take on more household tasks.

Dave and Laura, who live in Albuquerque, NM, now tag-team on home chores. Dave uses a walker or wheelchair, and forearm crutches, so he does sitting-down tasks, while Laura does others.

"He loads the dishwasher and I put the clean dishes away. He folds the laundry and I hang it in the closet."

It's all part of the adjustment that comes with taking a bigger role in your loved one's care. Some simple changes can make the transition go easier.

Tips for the Caregiver

Help with daily living. Expect to take on more everyday tasks. You may need to arrange transportation and run errands for your loved one. Household chores like cleaning, cooking, shopping, laundry, and child care may shift.

Depending on your loved one's MS symptoms, you may have to help with basic care like dressing, feeding, toileting, and bathing.

Make adjustments at home. Helping your loved one to be more independent is good for both of you. You may need to do some research on equipment like a walker or wheelchair.

Take stock of your house. Ramps, wider doorways, and bathroom equipment help him stay safe and make it easier to get around. An occupational or physical therapist can come to your home to suggest specific changes.

Promote a healthy lifestyle. "A lot of people with MS are trying to improve their diet. As a caregiver, you can step in and join them," says Victoria Leavitt, PhD, a neuropsychologist at Columbia University Medical Center in New York.

Biogen and Abbvie voluntarily pulled the multiple sclerosis drug daclizumab (Zinbryta) from the worldwide market today, following reports of inflammatory encephalitis and meningoencephalitis in patients in Europe.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) started an urgent review of the drug after seven cases of serious inflammatory brain disorders in Germany -- including encephalitis and meningoencephalitis -- and one case in Spain were reported.

Daclizumab is a self-administered, under-the-skin injection for relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis. In the United States, the FDA approved the drug in 2016 with a boxed warning that the product could cause severe liver injury, including life-threatening and fatal events. These risks prompted the FDA to caution that daclizumab should be used only in patients who had failed to respond to one or two prior therapies.

The drug targets the α-chain of the interleukin-2 receptor CD25. In the phase III DECIDE trial, daclizumab reduced relapse rates and disability progression more effectively than interferon beta-1a (Avonex), but the liver toxicity that had been seen in earlier studies remained a problem. In the phase II SELECTION trial, one patient died from autoimmune hepatitis and two others developed autoimmune conditions affecting vital organs.

"This news is not surprising," Mark Freedman, MD, of the University of Ottawa, told MedPage Today. "There are so many other better drugs available that many of us had a hard time positioning it in our MS armamentarium."

Thursday, March 1, 2018

Do you have relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS)? If so, you can help put MS to the test by joining EVOLVE-MS-2, a clinical trial that’s being conducted in your area.

This is your opportunity to be involved in the research and development of a new investigational drug for RRMS. Eligible participants will meet with study doctors, and receive the investigational drug and study-related care – all at no cost to you.

If you have RRMS and are looking to take part in clinical research for a new potential treatment of RRMS, learn more about the EVOLVE-MS-2 trial.

Join us to thank the support partners who help empower
the MS community! During Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Awareness Month, MS Views
& News is excited to be working with Biogen and other MS organizations on
#MySupportHero – a way to celebrate those who support us in our journey with MS,
be it family, friends or healthcare professionals.

Want to get involved? Here’s how:

Recognize your support partner(s) on
social media using the #MySupportHero hashtag, and consider posting a
photo or short video honoring this special person in your life

Scientists have shown in mice that skin cells re-programmed into brain stem cells, transplanted into the central nervous system, help reduce inflammation and may be able to help repair damage caused by multiple sclerosis (MS).

The study, led by researchers at the University of Cambridge, is a step towards developing personalised treatment based on a patient's own skin cells for diseases of the central nervous system (CNS).

In MS, the body's own immune system attacks and damages myelin, the protective sheath around nerve fibres, causing disruption to messages sent around the brain and spinal cord. Symptoms are unpredictable and include problems with mobility and balance, pain, and severe fatigue.

Key immune cells involved in causing this damage are macrophages (literally 'big eaters'), which ordinarily serve to attack and rid the body of unwanted intruders. A particular type of macrophage known as microglia are found throughout the brain and spinal cord - in progressive forms of MS, they attack the CNS, causing chronic inflammation and damage to nerve cells.

Recent advances have raised expectations that diseases of the CNS may be improved by the use of stem cell therapies. Stem cells are the body's 'master cells', which can develop into almost any type of cell within the body. Previous work from the Cambridge team has shown that transplanting neural stem cells (NSCs) - stem cells that are part-way to developing into nerve cells - reduces inflammation and can help the injured CNS heal.

However, even if such a therapy could be developed, it would be hindered by the fact that such NSCs are sourced from embryos and therefore cannot be obtained in large enough quantities. Also, there is a risk that the body will see them as an alien invader, triggering an immune response to destroy them.

A possible solution to this problem would be the use of so-called 'induced neural stem cells (iNSCs)' - these cells can be generated by taking an adult's skin cells and 're-programming' them back to become neural stem cells. As these iNSCs would be the patient's own, they are less likely to trigger an immune response.

Now, in research published in the journal Cell Stem Cell, researchers at the University of Cambridge have shown that iNSCs may be a viable option to repairing some of the damage caused by MS.

Using mice that had been manipulated to develop MS, the researchers discovered that chronic MS leads to significantly increased levels of succinate, a small metabolite that sends signals to macrophages and microglia, tricking them into causing inflammation, but only in cerebrospinal fluid, not in the peripheral blood.

Transplanting NSCs and iNSCs directly into the cerebrospinal fluid reduces the amount of succinate, reprogramming the macrophages and microglia - in essence, turning 'bad' immune cells 'good'. This leads to a decrease in inflammation and subsequent secondary damage to the brain and spinal cord.

"Our mouse study suggests that using a patient's reprogrammed cells could provide a route to personalised treatment of chronic inflammatory diseases, including progressive forms of MS," says Dr Stefano Pluchino, lead author of the study from the Department of Clinical Neurosciences at the University of Cambridge.

"This is particularly promising as these cells should be more readily obtainable than conventional neural stem cells and would not carry the risk of an adverse immune response."

The research team was led by Dr Pluchino, together with Dr Christian Frezza from the MRC Cancer Unit at the University of Cambridge, and brought together researchers from several university departments.

Certain markers on the MRI teach us about progression of disease. These include T1 hypo-intensities (aka T1 black holes) and accelerated rates of brain atrophy (aka faster rates of brain shrinkage).
In this video we review real MRI images of T1 black holes and discuss their significance. We show also discuss MRI images of accelerated brain shrinkage and discuss their significance in MS. Of note, we have selected severe examples.
We also discuss the use of emerging technologies to be able to start to measure and track rates of brain atrophy IN CLINIC. We use a software package that processes a volume analysis of the brain (and it's parts) and compares them to age/gender matches controls. This allows us to better understand THAT individuals degree of atrophy and track it's change over time. Current software isn't perfect, but it provides a very helpful guide to better inform our decisions in clinic.

Tuesday, February 27, 2018

Evidence is showing that magnet therapy could be the answer to treating many symptoms of multiple sclerosis (MS).

Those are the findings of researchers who published a study in October, in the journal Clinical Neurology and Neurosurgery, on the benefits of pulsing magnetic fields on a common presenting symptom of MS — paresthesia, commonly known as “pins and needles.”

Magnets have been used around the world. Now, researchers say scientific findings are backing up this ancient method of healing.

Those are the findings of researchers who published a study in October, in the journal Clinical Neurology and Neurosurgery, on the benefits of pulsing magnetic fields on a common presenting symptom of MS — paresthesia, commonly known as “pins and needles.”

SYMPTOMS of MS

In multiple sclerosis , damage to the myelin in the central nervous system (CNS), and to the nerve fibers themselves, interferes with the transmission of nerve signals between the brain and spinal cord and other parts of the body. This disruption of nerve signals produces the primary symptoms of MS, which vary depending on where the damage has occurred.

Over the course of the disease, some symptoms will come and go, while others may be more lasting.

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